Owensboro Family on Royal Caribbean Ship with Norovirus Outbreak

News broke Thursday that a Royal Caribbean cruise ship has been affected by an outbreak of Norovirus. An Owensboro couple was on the ship to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, their trip was cut short.

The outbreak occurred on the Oasis of the Seas, which will now return to Port Canaveral, Florida one day early. The ship left there Sunday for a seven-day adventure to Jamaica, Mexico and Haiti. However, that trip will be shortened by one day due a viral outbreak. According to news reports, nearly 300 people on board (a combination of passengers and crew) have become infected with the virus and are ill. Norovirus can spread quickly and causes vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pains.

Jennifer and Chris Vogel, who got married ten years ago on the Holland American Eurodam, are among the passengers on this trip.

Jennifer Vogel/Facebook

Joining them on the Oasis of the Seas are their 4-year-old daughter, Katy and Jennifer's parents, Martha and Allan Stewart.

According to Jennifer, when the ship docked in Falmouth, Jamaica there were about 150 passengers who had fallen ill. But, because of the number of people infected, passengers were not allowed to leave the ship. As of Thursday, the number of sickened passengers had nearly doubled. That's when Royal Caribbean decided to make the trip for home to try and avoid further impact of the outbreak. Luckily for Jennifer and her family, they are not among the passengers who have fallen ill. And she says the crew is constantly wiping down and disinfecting everything . . . including the handrails at the pool.

If there's a silver lining in the story, reports indicate that all passengers aboard will be issued full refunds by Royal Caribbean. While Jennifer and Chris didn't get treated to the anniversary trip of a lifetime this time, they'll get another shot at it soon.